Ascension of Darkness
by InsaneZero
Summary: The introduction to the Sword of Seals. One writer's intepretation of how the 'dark star of Bern' came to be. Prologue of a four-part series.


Ascension of Darkness

By InsaneZero

Author's Note: I do not own anyone that I write about in here. Oh, and Sety pwnz Pent.

Prologue: Birth of a New Era

_It has been about twenty years._

_Twenty years after the great battle with Nergal and the fire dragons._

_And during this time, countries were rebuilt, lives reborn, and there was a sense of peace._

_For the first time in a long time, the future looked bright for Elibe…_

The Kingdom of Bern – Bern Keep

In his own private room, the prince of Bern, one of the most powerful nations in Elibe, was spending his time learning more about the history of the continent. Specifically, he was looking at the days of the Scouring, a time when man and dragon broke apart their bonds of wisdom and trust and started a fierce war. It was his favorite subject while his days of schooling, and he still had an interest in it. However, it was not the violence that attracted him, no. It was due to the bias that the historians had against the dragons. Every single book he read about the subject, the more his eyes become keen to catching little subtle mistakes. Once, he read a book that said that the dragons forced the humans into slavery, until a small band of eight rose up and defeated thousands of dragons, and forced them into a hasty retreat. It was very interesting indeed. He has yet to find a historical account that told the complete truth.

'Well, maybe there is none,' Zephiel told to himself. 'We humans feel obligated to make ourselves even more powerful. But…'

His thoughts were cut short when he heard a knock on his door. He excused himself from his reading and opened the door to see his sister, still as energetic from twenty years ago.

"Hello, brother! I thought I'll find you here!" Guinevere said with a tinge of excitement in her voice. During the years, his sister matured and grew up to become a beautiful princess. Even though her behavior changed along with her appearance, she still relaxed in the presence of her older brother. Zephiel insisted that she act her age around him, but he secretly felt relieved because of it. Nevertheless, he was annoyed that she barged in on him while he was thinking. She continued, "The guards have been looking all over for you. It has been over three days since you've gone missing, you know. It's funny, really. Looking at those poor soldiers frantically running around yelling your name is quite hilarious. Father's getting angry as well."

"Well, you know that I'm here, so why don't you tell them that they can relax? I'm busy with my reading, so I don't want to be bothered." He picked up his text to prove his point.

Guinevere looked at the book with some annoyance. "What is with you and dragons? To be frank, they are not interesting at all," she said with a yawn, "and they don't exist anymore. Really, I don't think they existed at all."

"Oh? And what do you call our world famous wyverns? They are dragons too, you know," he argued.

"Bah. Brother, you bore me. I thought that you would be preparing to become a good king, and here you are reading about obscure legends. You said that you wanted to become a strong leader for the sake of the kingdom, remember?" Guinevere said, with a tinge of anger in her voice. She started to leave.

"I do, but…"

"While you are looking for a response, I tell the guards to stop looking." Guinevere stepped back outside and walked around the area for a while. 'Brother, at this rate, you'll never be king.' 

Finding herself outside, Guinevere called out to her personal attendant. "Miledy!"

In a couple of minutes, the famed dragon master of Bern came to the aid of the princess, whatever her request may be. She took her position quite seriously, but her friendship with Guinevere was worth much more than her country. And so, when the princess told her that the prince was found and safe, she flew back as quickly as she could to spread the news.

When Murdock heard that Zephiel was unharmed, he breathed a sigh of relief. With the prince's initiation to become king close at hand, he could spare no disasters in this stage. His whole life was dedicated to him, and to fail in his duty meant that he was a horrible disgrace not only to the eyes of his country, but to himself as well. Like Miledy, he also took his job seriously, and he was, to be truthful, quite scared when the prince disappeared. But now, Zephiel was safe, and the kingdom of Bern was soon to have her new king. He knew that even the king, who took a serious dislike to his son even to this day, was relieved.

Unnoticed by anyone in the keep, a mysterious stranger watched all of the people with great interest. His plan was now set in motion.

End Prologue

This short prologue precedes four short chapters and a short Epilogue. To those that do not know, this is my intro to Fire Emblem: The Sword of Seals.


End file.
